“Why are you grinning like an idiot?” Sana giggled as Momo finally walked through the door, panting from her workout.

 

                “Yah! I’m not—ok maybe I am kind of an idiot,” Momo admitted, “Have you ever felt like your heart beats for someone else? Like not for yourself anymore, but like someone else entirely?”

 

                Sana extended her arms and Momo sat in her lap. Sana embraced her warmly, pressing her ear to Momo’s chest, “Your heart is beating like crazy Momo… you got it bad,” Sana snorted.

 

                “Well I did just finish running home…” She admitted.

 

                “Oh, ew! Momo get off of me and shower!” Sana complained.

 

                Momo didn’t move, in fact she just wrapped her arms tighter around Sana, “You love my stinky cuddles!”

 

                Sana squirmed before finally settling, “Ok, yeah, kinda,” she admitted.

 

                “What is it about you and your thing for sweaty girls?” Momo chuckled, finally getting off Sana’s lap.

 

                “It’s not the sweat I’m attracted to Momo, it’s what’s underneath the sweat,” Sana pointed out.

 

                Momo looked at Sana in confusion.

 

                “Their bodies. Field hockey players have fantastic bodies, Momo,” Sana answered.

 

                Momo looked down at herself before looking back up at Sana and smirking lopsidedly, “Are you saying I have a fantastic body?”

 

                Sana bit her lip unconsciously as she honestly appraised Momo’s body. She was still wearing her tight sweaty workout clothes from dance earlier, and the small indentations signifying her abs could just be seen through her top. She shook her head out of her trance and grimaced, “Shut up Momo, I said field hockey players… not just any sweaty girl will do the trick,”

 

                Momo snorted in response, “Ok then, if you’re not into my sweat… that makes two of us. I’m going to shower,”

 

                “Alright, I’m going to get into my bed… so see you in couple hours I guess,” Sana joked.

 

                Looks like Momo would have to wait another night to tell Sana about her budding feelings for the campus drug dealer.

 

                ~

 

                “Dahyun do you even…” Mina started to say after the third TKO in a row. She’d invited the girl over to play video games in preparation for their first official club meeting later this week, but it seemed the girl had fallen asleep on her couch in the middle of a match. She powered off the console and decided to call it a night too.

 

                Mina considered waking her up… but she just looked so cute and comfortable there. She picked up the old throw blanket they’d been using and tucked her in. Dahyun grunted contentedly on her sleep, causing Mina to smile unknowingly.

 

                “Good night, dork,” Mina said, after staring at the girl’s face for a little too long. One kiss wouldn’t hurt right? Before she could change her mind, she pressed a quick feather-light kiss to the younger girl’s temple and scampered off to bed. Not sticking around to see the faint ghost of a smile appear on the sleeping girl’s face.

 

                ~

 

                When Mina awoke to clattering in her kitchen, she wasn’t surprised. She groaned in frustration and was ready to chew out Sakura whose clumsy tendencies seem to have gotten loud enough to rouse her from sleep.

 

                “Sakura! Yakamashi!” Mina scolded, as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and exited her room.

 

                There was another loud clatter and a startled grunt, “Shizuka ni shiro—” she started before her eyes cleared and she noticed who’d made the noise. Dahyun. “G—gomennasai—I mean—sorry,” she stuttered nervously as she ran back to her room, trying to fix her bed head.

 

                There was a hesitant knock on her door, “Mina? What does ‘yamasaki shikuza nishi ro’ mean? D—did I do something wrong?” Maybe she should take Japanese lessons, then she could surprise Mina.

 

                After Mina was satisfied with her appearance, she flung the door open, “No I—forget it, I thought you were my roommate,” she explained, “What were you doing anyway?”

 

                Dahyun’s face flushed red, “I was trying to make you breakfast… you know, for letting me crash here last night… sorry about that by the way,” she apologized.

 

                “Dahyun, it’s ok you can crash here—on my couch anytime,” Mina said before turning away abruptly and walking to see what Dahyun was working on in the kitchen.

 

                Mina raised an eyebrow at the eggs Dahyun had attempted to cook.

 

                “Sorry its not much… you didn’t really have a lot of groceries,” she muttered another apology.

 

                “No, it’s—we don’t cook often—this is perfect,” Mina smiled warmly at Dahyun and the two split the eggs happily.

 

                When it was time for Mina to head to class and Dahyun the library, she ushered her out the door and the two chatted amicably as they walked down the hall together. They talked about all sorts of things, from the weather to what specific pantone colour they thought the Tardis was. They were just… comfortable with each other, they made sense, and the thought crossed Mina’s mind that she’d be happy if they could do this every day. Dahyun was content with her and Mina’s friendship… but Mina was starting to think that maybe she didn’t want to be just friends.

 

                ~

 

                “How’d you sleep?” Momo asked, yawning as she exited her room.

 

                Sana handed her a cup of water - Sana was always trying to get her to hydrate and Momo hated it, “Wonderful, amazing, fantastic… you’re so good in bed Momo. I could sleep with you forever,” Sana giggled happily.

 

                “Don’t flatter me,” Momo mumbled into her cup before taking the first hesitant sip, “But I’m glad you were able to sleep well,”

 

                “I hope you never get a girlfriend; I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Sana joked.

 

                Momo spit her water back into her cup, choking on it in surprise, “Sana…” Momo warned, as she patted her damp pj top with a napkin, “Don’t do that to me,”

 

                “Ok fine, I hope whoever your future girlfriend may be that she doesn’t mind a little extra cuddles at night,” Sana changed her answer.

 

                Momo shot her a grimace in response, “Just as long as—actually, never mind. If I ever get a girlfriend, I’m fixing the lock on my door,”

 

                Sana pouted at Momo and was probably going to answer with a snarky remark, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Momo took Sana's distraction as her chance to dump out the bland cup of water in favour of orange juice.

 

                “Gotta go, have fun running to school,” Sana called as she opened the door to Rosé.

 

                Rosé waved goodbye to Momo through the door, but as soon as they turned around to leave, she heard voices coming from down the hall. Sana froze, and Rosé looked behind her in confusion as to why she was no longer following her.

 

                "G'day dags!" Rosé said cheerily noticing the other two girls, yet oblivious to the tension building.

 

                “Oh…” Mina said looking from Rosé to Sana. How long had she been over her thing with Chaeyoung?

 

                Dahyun’s eyes were only on Sana, however, and Sana’s eyes on Dahyun just the same.

 

                Sana cleared , finally prying her gaze away from Dahyun and plastering a fake cheerleader smile on her face before saying, “Missed my cuddles so much you tried to replace me? That’s so cute,”

 

                Rosé couldn’t tell who she’d directed that to, but the next thing she knew Sana was tugging her down the stairs determinedly.

 

                ~

 

                “Dahyun-ah, I love you!” Sana shouted goofily before wrapping her in a big cuddly hug. She had learned how to say the phrase recently and was very excited to finally be able to use it.

 

                “Sana, you shouldn’t say that,” Dahyun scolded, as she unwound Sana’s arms from her suddenly.

 

                “Why not? It’s true,” Sana pouted.

 

                “B—because it shouldn’t be. Girls aren’t supposed to love other girls,” Dahyun nervously said, backing away from Sana slowly.

 

                “Then why did you kiss me earlier?” Sana cocked her head in confusion.

 

                “I—It was an accident,” Dahyun stuttered, “I didn’t mean it,”

 

                “But… but it was our first kiss,” Sana said, her lip trembling, and Dahyun began to back away faster.

 

                “N—no it wasn’t real… I’m s—I’m not like that,” Dahyun said before turning and running away.

 

                Sana called the only person she could truly rely on: Momo. Momo heard one sniffle over the phone line, and she ran all the way over to the park to her.

 

                “What happened?” Momo asked as she cradled a barely eighteen-year-old Sana and tried to get her to stop crying.

 

                “She doesn’t love me back Momo. She said girls shouldn’t love other girls. She said she didn’t mean to kiss me,” she sobbed incoherently into Momo’s shoulder.

 

                If Sana had been anyone else, maybe Momo wouldn’t have understood, but the two had grown up together, come to Japan together, and were now living together. They could practically communicate non-verbally. That’s how Momo knew something was wrong before Sana had even said anything over the phone.

 

                ~

 

                “What just happened?” Mina and Dahyun both asked at the same time. Both feeling guilty and yet also, unsure who Sana had just targeted with her words.

 

                “N—nothing,” Mina stuttered in response.

 

                Dahyun’s eyes looked far away before she started walking again, “Look, I don’t ask you about your past… so can we just drop it?”

 

                “Yeah, fine—I just—that’s fine,” Mina replied trying to keep up. She knew Dahyun was right, and she appreciated her lack of questioning her past, but she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of history Sana and Dahyun had. She knew Sana was bad news… but she never expected Dahyun to have been wrapped up in it.

 

                ~

 

                Chaeyoung scrubbed and scrubbed her hands, desperately trying to get the red paint off before she met up with Momo. Like it was cool, it was casual and all—but she still didn’t want to look like a total mess when she gave Momo her drugs.

 

                “!” She cursed when she noticed she got red fingerprints on the dime bag when she packed the weed, “Jesus ing Christ Chaeyoung, you might as well just accept it now: you’re a class A mess,”

 

[ding]

 

                Chaeyoung instantly stopped what she was doing and searched for her phone hoping it was Momo, ready to give her a location.

 

[07:17] Unknown: Can we talk? I saw her today… I’m not ok

 

                Ok, that wasn’t Momo. She was pretty sure she’d saved her contact information already. She normally wouldn’t respond to random unknown numbers, but this seemed… important.

 

[07:19] Chaeng 👽: who is this

[07:20] Unknown: Cut the crap Chaeyoung. I really need to talk to someone about this.

                Unknown: And I can’t exactly tell Mina…

                Unknown: Please

 

                Dahyun. Chaeyoung grit her teeth as she felt her anger bubbling up inside of her. If she saw Sana… that meant Sana also probably saw her. She hoped Sana was ok.

 

                ~

 

                “You did what?” Chaeyoung asked incredulously.

 

                “I told her girls can’t like girls,” Dahyun shrugged emotionlessly.

 

                “You’re an you know that, right?” Chaeyoung spat, “You hurt that poor girl for no reason, you could have said literally anything else, and it wouldn’t have been that bad,”

 

                “Well, it had to be done. My parents wouldn’t want me to—” Dahyun sighed.

 

                “Shut the up Dahyun,” Chaeyoung growled, “I don’t want to hear about what your parents want. What do you want?”

 

                “I want—what they want… and they want what’s best for me,” She replied evenly.

 

                “You know I like girls Dahyun, what does that make me?” Chaeyoung asked, anger burning in her eyes.

 

                “Wrong… but that doesn’t mean we can’t—” Dahyun started, but before she could finish Chaeyoung had shoved her over.

 

                “You’re such a wimp. You need to come out of your little bubble, and learn to think for yourself,” Chaeyoung spat.

 

                “I’m sorry I’m not a “free spirit” like you,” Dahyun growled holding her elbow that had split open in her fall, “Free spirit my … that’s just a fancy term for sketchy! Yeah, you’re sketchy and don’t have any respect for the rules, and I really don’t think we should be friends anymore,”

 

                “Yeah your parents definitely wouldn’t want you being friends with someone sketchy,” Chaeyoung let out a cry of frustration, “And for once I think I agree with them, until you can grow a pair and accept who you really are… we shouldn’t be friends,” then she stormed off.

 

                ~

 

[Saved contact as "Kim Dahyun"]

[07:30] Chaeng 👽: did you take my advice

[07:31] Kim Dahyun: Chaeyoung I’m really trying here

                Kim Dahyun: I’m desperate

[07:33] Chaeng 👽: fine

                Chaeng 👽: where should i meet you

[07:33] Kim Dahyun: Anywhere. I’ll meet you anywhere

[07:35] Chaeng 👽: well obviously not anywhere. you pick. wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable meeting in the wrong area of town

[07:39] Kim Dahyun: I deserved that

                Kim Dahyun: Library. 4^th floor bathroom.

[07:40] Chaeng 👽: you know that’s where people go to make out right

                Chaeng 👽: you’re not gonna try and kiss me or something

[07:41] Kim Dahyun: No, that’s where people who don’t want to be seen making out make out. Perfect place for us not to be seen together.

[07:42] Chaeng 👽: whatever

                Chaeng 👽: i’ll be there in 5

 

[ding]

[ding]

 

                Chaeyoung ignored the rest of her messages. Talking to Dahyun could be so emotionally draining. She packed her backpack, not forgetting to throw in Momo’s weed in so she could give it to her later. She reluctantly headed to campus to meet Dahyun.

 

                ~

 

                Momo paced her room, she was completely ready for school and thought now might be a good time to meet up with Chaeyoung before she got to campus… so why wasn’t she answering her text? Had she said something wrong? She did still want to meet up right? Momo checked her phone again.

 

[07:43] Momo: should we meet before class? 8)

                Momo: I have tryouts after otherwise I’d totally invite you for munchies :/

[Unread by Sleepy Cub 🐅]

 

                Maybe she just wasn’t awake yet. It was almost 08:00 though, and Momo was going to be late for her 08:30 if she didn’t leave now. She groaned and grabbed her backpack, deciding just to leave anyway. Maybe this was a good sign after all.

 

                “Wait up, Momo!” someone called to her from down the hall.

 

                Momo turned around and met Lisa who was grinning excitedly.

 

                “Ready for this afternoon?” she asked enthusiastically.

 

                “As ready as I’ll ever be,” Momo sighed, shooting the girl a smile, “What about you? You prepared to really wow me this year?”

 

                “Oh hush, you big softy, even if I didn’t, you know you couldn’t turn down these puppy dog eyes,” Lisa said blinking adorably up at Momo.

 

                “Hey, I am a totally unbiased judge… I heard there’s going to be some fierce competition this year. No one is safe,” Momo said, winking.

 

                “Yeah ok, sure… and I moved to Korea from Thailand because I can’t dance,” Lisa said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

 

                Momo chuckled in response.

 

                “We all still going out for drinks after tryouts, or what? It’s tradish…” Lisa coaxed.

 

                “Absolutely, you know I love a good party… that is, if you make the team,” Momo smirked at Lisa teasingly.

 

                Lisa smacked Momo’s arm playfully.

 

[ding]

 

                Momo pulled out her phone so quickly… but it was only a message from Sana.

 

[08:00] Satang: SOS I need to be drunk. Right now. She was at Mina’s

                Satang: I swear I was about to risk it all and fight a Yakuza member right then and there 😡

 

                “Mind if I invite Sana out with us?” Momo asked, not looking up from her phone.

 

                “Huh? Yeah, duh,” Lisa said, looking up from smiling at a text message of her own, “But I’m inviting someone too,”

 

[8:02] Motang: Don’t. Drinks tonight after tryouts but play nice. Mina will be there 😒

 

                It couldn’t be. That goofy girl that had been following Mina around in the dance room? She’d only met her once briefly back in high school. She hardly recognized her now with blonde hair. Oh . Mina had mentioned they were both trying out… Momo couldn’t have her making the dance team. She’d have to make sure to do something about that.

 

                ~

 

                “Momo, I don’t want to be here, why are we here?” Sana whined; her voice small.

 

                “Jeongyeon said there were plenty of cute girls here to get your mind off Dahyun,” Momo explained.

 

                “But I don’t want to—” Sana started.

 

                “Sana! There’s my beautiful, beautiful, guest of honor. How are you feeling?” Jeongyeon called, ushering the two into the loud house party.

 

                “Terrible,” Sana whined.

 

                “Sana honey, please turn that frown upside down, we’re going to make this better,” Nayeon soothed pulling Sana into a hug.

 

                “Let’s get you a drink ok? And then I’ll have Seungyeon introduce you to some of her friends on the field hockey team,” Jeongyeon coaxed, “Do you think you’d like that?”

 

                “D—do they like girls?” Sana asked.

 

                “Y—yeah of course, everyone on the field hockey team likes girls… it’s field hockey,” Jeongyeon answered, shooting Momo a questioning look.

 

                Momo mouthed, “I’ll tell you later,”

 

                “Are you sure?” Sana asked.

 

                “I promise,” Jeongyeon comforted.

 

                “Yeah… I think I’d like that,” Sana nodded meekly before following her friends into the kitchen to make drinks.

 

                ~

 

                “Hey,” Dahyun said tentatively.

 

                “Hey,” Chaeyoung answered noncommittally.

 

                Dahyun didn’t say anything else, just stared at Chaeyoung intently.

 

                “What do you want?” Chaeyoung clicked open her phone to check the time, “I’m supposed to be meeting someone any minute…” she trailed off as she noticed the texts from Momo, “, I’m actually missing it right now,” she said slinging her backpack back on and turning towards the door.

 

                “Chaeyoung wait!” Dahyun said grabbing her backpack to stop her.

 

                “What are you doing? Let go!” Chaeyoung said in frustration, tugging at her backpack.

 

                “Please, Chaeyoung, just let me—” she grunted in effort as yanked Chaeyoung’s backpack, causing the zipper to open and all the contents to spill out.

 

                “,” Chaeyoung cursed as she hurried to pick up all her things.

 

                Dahyun bent down to help her, apologizing profusely when she saw the bag, “What is this Chaeyoung? Is this drugs?” Dahyun asked in disbelief.

 

                Chaeyoung groaned in frustration, “I don’t have to explain myself to you,” she said snatching the bag out of her hand quickly.

 

                “I knew it! You’re still sketchy. I shouldn’t be here… I gotta go,” Dahyun said, pushing past Chaeyoung out the door.

 

                “UUGHHHHHH!” Chaeyoung cried out loudly, punching the wall, “,” she whined after realizing that had been a bad idea and she totally just wrecked her hand. She zipped up her backpack and hurried out of the bathroom.

 

                Only after she was gone did a toilet flush and the door to the last stall opened.

 

                Ok that was totally weird, Tzuyu thought to herself, but she brushed it off washing her hands thoroughly.

 

                As she was towel drying off her hands, the door swung open and two people blundered in attached at the lips… and the hips.

 

                She had to back against the wall to avoid them and accidentally set off the hand dryer. Both heads snapped in her direction.

 

                “Oh, hey T-Star,” Jeongyeon said, smiling uneasily and rubbing the back of her neck.

 

                “Hey, T-Star,” Nayeon repeated, wiggling her fingers at Tzuyu.

 

                “I uhh—I’m late for a thing,” Tzuyu said quickly exiting the bathroom. She was never using that bathroom again.

 

                “I wonder who she was in here with?” Nayeon giggled with glee. She couldn’t wait to report to the other cheerleaders she’d caught the new field hockey player in the make out bathroom on the second day of school.

 

                “What’s this?” Jeongyeon said crouching down to pick up a notebook that’d fallen under the sinks and almost out of sight. It was covered in doodles and had a phone number in the corner of the first page.

 

                “That’s Momo’s phone number,” Nayeon answered having already typed it into her phone and called it causing the contact ID to pop up on her screen

 

                “Nayeon, what the hell, I’m in class?” Momo hissed into the phone.

 

                “Hirai, you’ve got some explaining to do… why did Jeong and I find your phone number in the library make out bathroom?” Nayeon interrogated, not seeming to take the hint.

 

                “It was in some worn, doodled up notebook,” Jeongyeon added.

 

                “Oh…” Momo replied.

 

                ~

 

[buzz]

 

                Momo checked her phone, not really caring who it was anymore at this point.

 

[08:51] Sleepy Cub 🐅: hey sorry i’m just now responding. you would not believe the morning i’ve had. do you still want to meet?

[08:55] Momo: Sorry I can’t

 

                She clicked her phone off and put it in her backpack. Was nine-thirty am too early to start dancing? She didn’t really need to go to her other classes today.

 

                ~

 

                Chaeyoung grunted in pain as she tried to put the ice she got from the cafeteria on her knuckles. It was already soaking through the paper towel and she was making a mess.

 

                “Hey,” a voice said, causing her to look up and see Rosé putting her water bottle down at the seat across from her, “Can I sit?”

 

                Chaeyoung shrugged in response.

 

                Rosé sat and tentatively reached out to lift the makeshift ice pack. She gingerly examined Chaeyoung’s bruised hand underneath, “Are you ok?”

 

                “I’m fine,” Chaeyoung grumbled. To tell the truth, she was actually quite the opposite. Nothing seemed to be going her way today… including this encounter.

 

                “It’s really red, Chaeng. That doesn’t look fine,” She said a finger over her knuckles lightly.

 

                Chaeyoung winced in pain, “It’s probably just the paint… I couldn’t get all of it off this morning,”

 

                “You’re still doing that?” Rosé asked releasing her hand.

 

                “Of course, its not perfect yet,” she answered before a yawn betrayed how tired she was.

 

                “You really should be sleeping Chaeyoung… you can—” she said quietly.

 

                “I don’t need your clucking pity,” Chaeyoung grumbled before picking up her sorry ice pack and storming away from the table.

        

                ~

       

                January 26^th. Chaeyoung hadn’t dressed warmly enough for the weather, but she was underground, so she was mostly protected against the weather. She had a bottle or two of soju keeping her warm though… but it definitely didn’t help her state of mind that she had also been inhaling paint fumes. She knew she needed to head home, but she really wasn’t in a state to… She had been up for almost thirty-six consecutive hours and she was at her wits end in more than one way. She just wanted to get home and go to sleep… she never made it that far.

 

                When she woke up, she had been stripped down to her underclothes and was cuddled up warmly next to a sweet-smelling stranger. Her initial response was to panic, “Aish, what the Chaeyoung!” she scolded herself for what she assumed had been another drunken mistake.

 

                Little did she know the girl next to her was also named Chaeyoung. She awoke with a start, apologies already on her lips, “Aye sorry mate, didn’t totally nick ur daks or anything, let me explain. Last night I was heading home from a piss up after a few coldies by myself because I was feeling a bit sorry that there’s no other True Blues like me here… anyway I was abso legless when I ran into you last night passed out in the snow. I thought to myself “crikey mate! This little homeless girl is gonna die in the cold!”. Well, you’re lucky I was feeling unusually clucky because you were covered in paint and shivering so I did my best to warm you up… hence your knickers… I swear I’m not just some root rat,”

 

                “I didn’t understand a word you just said,” Chaeyoung answered as she tried her best to cover her exposed body.

 

                “Told you she wouldn’t understand your weird ing Australian slang,” Another girl said poking her head into the room with a squirming cat in her arms.

 

                “When I tried to ask her where she came from, she said, ‘down under’, can you blame me for getting a little excited at that?” she replied sounding slightly disappointed.

 

                Chaeyoung didn’t know what the girls were talking about since they were seemingly communicating to each other in English as if she wasn’t in the room.

 

                “Hello, hi, who are you and whe—whe—ACHOO!” Chaeyoung started.

 

                Rosé put her hand up to Chaeyoung’s forehead, “Oh, you poor thing, you’re ill. Don’t worry I’ll take good care of you before I send you back out in the cold, ok?” the Aussie said finally speaking Korean, “Homeless people must have it so bad this time of year,”

 

                “Yah, I’m not homeless!” Chaeyoung cried as she swatted Rosé’s hand away. She stood up abruptly, but her weakened body immediately disagreed with that motion and she fell right back down on top of Rosé who caught her and cradled her close to her body.

 

                “Ok, not homeless, I’m Chaeyoung—but my friends call me Rosé, I saved your life last night and you’re clearly in no state to go anywhere yet. That little cutie in the doorway is Leo and the total nuisance holding him is my roommate Lisa,”

 

                “I—thank you, my name is—is—ACHOO!” Chaeyoung sneezed again.

 

                Rosé’s face shifted into a teasing smirk.

 

                “Don’t say it,” Chaeyoung warned.

 

                “G'day, Achoo,” Rosé teased innocently.

 

                Chaeyoung rolled her eyes and flopped back onto the bed in desperation. Rosé giggled and did the same, looking up at Chaeyoung with sparkling eyes.

 

                “You know, for a homeless person named Achoo, you’re actually pretty cute,” She said after a moment of staring.

 

                “I’m not—you know, never mind,” Chaeyoung answered, as Rosé pulled her cold body close to her warm body and snuggled into her again.

 

                “Rosé quit adopting every stray you find on the streets challenge failed,” Lisa grumbled as she carried Leo out of the room, closing the door behind her.

 

                Chaeyoung spent the rest of the day with Rosé talking and napping. She didn’t leave until Rosé gave her the discharge OK the next morning.

 

                ~

 

                Things had been really tense this morning between Mina and Dahyun and because of that Tzuyu was suffering. She could only excuse herself to go to the bathroom so many more times before they’d start to catch on.

 

                To make matters worse, she didn’t particularly want to risk going back to the bathroom and walking in on either of the events that she’d witnessed earlier either.

 

                “Guys, what’s going on? Are you really that nervous for tryouts today?” Tzuyu finally spoke up, breaking the silence.

 

                “Crap,” Dahyun cursed, “I forgot about tryouts!” she pinched the bridge of her nose and looked at the ceiling in agony.

 

                “I don’t know… I’m more worried about what’s happening after,” Mina said shrugging.

 

                “What’s happening after?” Dahyun and Tzuyu asked at the same time.

 

                “Momo texted me—she said after tryouts we’re going out drinking,” Mina answered nonchalantly, “She didn’t text you?” she asked Dahyun.

 

                “Y—you guys text?” Dahyun asked weakly.

 

                “Occasionally,” Mina hummed innocently.

 

                “D—do you ever…” Dahyun shook her head, thinking better of asking what she’d wanted to ask.

 

                Mina, ignoring Dahyun’s slip of the tongue turned her focus back to Tzuyu, “Want to go out with us tonight?”

 

                “Oh… I have practice,” Tzuyu said.

 

                “It’s after,” Mina countered with a smirk.

 

                “I—fine, I’ve got nothing better to do,” She answered.

 

                “Dahyun, you coming?” Mina asked.

 

                “Probably not… I don’t think I’ll be up to it after I embarrass myself at tryouts,” Dahyun answered uneasily.

 

                “… well ok then,” Mina said slowly. She wasn’t totally sure if she bought Dahyun’s answer. She’d been acting weird ever since their run in with Sana and Rosé this morning… and even weirder since they got to the library.

 

                ~

 

                “Today has possibly been the worst ing day of my life,” Sana ranted to Nayeon as they made their way to the locker rooms.

 

                “What happened?” Nayeon asked as she opened her locker and started getting out her clothes.

 

                “Dahyun. I saw her this morning,” Sana grumbled, doing the same.

 

                Nayeon froze with her shirt off, “I thought you were over her?” she asked, seriously.

 

                “Oh, I am,” Sana said her lips as she appraised Nayeon’s body.

 

                “Stop. Gross, I hate it when you do that!” Nayeon squealed as she quickly pulled on her shirt.

 

                Sana giggled in triumph at her ability to make her friend squirm, “No, but seriously. Yeah, I’m over her, but it still hurts to see her. Like I’m suddenly reminded of what I went through to get here, ya know?”

 

                “Do, have you seen my…” Tzuyu trailed off as she realized Doyeon was no longer behind her, and two half- cheerleaders were looking at her intently instead. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned back around.

 

                Sana made sure to put her shirt on before asking, “What were you looking for?” Sana asked, “Can’t find it very well with your eyes closed, can you?”

 

                Tzuyu turned back around, blushing slightly. She didn’t see the problem in looking now… there wasn’t any risk of being hit by a ball or a stick in the locker room was there?

 

                “Tch, damn,” Sana whispered as her eyes raked Tzuyu’s long and lean body unabashedly, “25, you are doing things to me,” she mumbled unintelligibly.

 

                “Huh?” Tzuyu asked, looking up at Sana once again, from where she was searching on the ground.

 

                “Minatozaki Sana,” she said extending her hand to shake, “You look like you might need some help,”

 

                “Chou Tzuyu,” she said blushing once again before taking the girl’s hand, “I’m looking for my stick,”

 

                “She can help you find your stick alright… and show you where you can put it after,” Nayeon teased.

 

                Tzuyu stepped back suddenly, realizing she was still holding Sana’s hand after they’d stopped shaking… and that Nayeon had just tried to make a ual joke at her signifying she’d been talking to them for too long.

 

                But she slipped on something and fell to her .

 

                Sana crouched down and retrieved a field hockey stick from the ground by Tzuyu’s feet, “Found it,”

 

                “Now where should she put it?” Nayeon egged her on.

 

                Tzuyu’s eyes widened in terror, and Sana seemed to have noticed. She giggled sweetly before responding, “You should probably put it in your locker next time, so you don’t trip over it again,”

 

                Tzuyu didn’t miss the way Nayeon rolled her eyes at Sana. Sana just smirked at the older girl in response, and without another word the two cheerleaders sauntered out of the locker room.

 

                “What was that?” Jeongyeon asked, appearing and extending a hand to help Tzuyu off the floor.

 

                “Nothing—I just fell,” Tzuyu answered quickly.

 

                “That’s what they all say when they get caught with a cheerleader,” she hummed, “Put your shirt on so we can go pass, Jihyo is gonna kill me if we’re late,”

 

                “Wait… my shirt wasn’t on this whole time?” Tzuyu said looking around frantically for her practice jersey.

 

                Jeongyeon shook her head in dismay and chuckled, “Rookie mistake,”

 

                ~

 

                Momo looked at Chungha and then Coach Kang on her other side before turning to the group of hopefuls in front of her, “My name is Momo I’m the captain, this is Coach Kang and this is Chungha the assistant captain. We’re going to be judging your dancing today… but like not in the y way, think of it as like…”

 

                “We’re looking for talent. So if you don’t have that, you’re cut,” Chungha finished, with a big smile.

 

                “Yeah, exactly! With maybe a little bit of here and there,” she said eyes scanning the crowd until they landed on one small blonde in particular. Dahyun gulped nervously.

 

                “It’s just tryouts they said, it’ll be fun they said,” Dahyun whispered to Mina.

 

                “Oh come on, it’s just Momo, how bad could it be? She’s harmless,” Mina said rolling her eyes playfully.

 

                ~

 

                Apparently pretty bad. Momo had already made two girls cry and Chungha four. Coach Kang, had to leave the room because she said she couldn’t bare to watch anymore.

 

                Momo sighed in frustration as the last girl – a girl named Eunsuh who’d actually had the audacity to come in with a robot routine – ran out in tears, “Next!” she called.

 

                “This better be ing good, I’m getting thirsty,” Chungha grumbled under her breath.

 

                Momo chuckled and shoved Chungha playfully before looking up at who was now standing in front of them. Mina bowed nervously.

 

                “Oh this is actually going to be good,” Momo whispered nudging Chungha, who was boredly scrolling instagram.

 

                Chungha looked up at Mina who was nervously fidgeting with her hands and waiting for her cue to go, before looking back at Momo and snorting, “If you say so,”

 

                “Chungha, I’m serious, don’t say . I’ve already made up my mind about her… you can rip up the next one,” Momo hissed.

 

                “We haven’t even seen her dance yet, but ok, whatever,” Chungha said defensively.

 

                “Ahem, alright Mina, what song have you prepared a dance for us to today?” Momo asked excitedly.

 

                “’Drunk in Love” by Beyoncé-sunbaenim,” Mina answered evenly, handing her the USB. Momo plugged the USB into the speaker system and hit play.

 

                Mina moved naturally to the music. Momo had never seen this side of Mina before it was… y. The way she pop and locked to the beat, but still carried herself with the grace of a ballet dancer. Then she was on the floor, grinding and winding around. And that smirk… oh my God that smirk. Who thought letting lesbians be in charge of dance tryouts was a good idea?

 

                Chungha was looking at Momo with a grin on her face as Mina finished dancing. They both stood up and applauded, “You’re in!” they both shouted at once.

 

                “Really?” Mina asked incredulously.

 

                “Absolutely!” Momo said as she walked around the table to congratulate Mina and shake her hand. Instead of shaking her hand, however, Mina jumped into her arms and hugged her tightly.

 

                “Thank you so much Unnie! I won’t let you down!” Mina said.

 

                “Alright, alright, now get the out of here so I can get on to the next girl,” Chungha said as she cracked her knuckles intimidatingly.

 

                Mina bowed once more before quickly leaving the room.

 

                Momo sighed, “Who’s next?”

 

                “Someone named Kim Dahyun,” Chungha said as the girl entered the room. Chungha looked up from the list and appraised Dahyun – who was wearing a shirt with Marge Simpson posing like Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda – before winking at Momo, “This should be fun,”

 

                “Hey girl, what song have you got for us today?” Chungha asked brightly

 

                “Uhm it’s called “Show Me Your BBA SAE” by DJ Hanmin,” Dahyun answered bravely before reaching forward to give Chungha the USB.

 

                “Hmm… interesting choice. Good luck,” Chungha said before pressing play.

 

                Dahyun was caught off guard by the sudden start of the music, but she jumped right in. Her dance was less traditional and involved a lot of jumping and sharp hand movements. She was waddling around like a broken robot and at one point she even mimed like she was a DJ along to the music… kind of. She kept making silly faces and crumping… and then she started flapping her arms wildly as if she was going to take flight. But the whole time she was grinning as if she didn’t know how silly the whole thing looked. Momo almost found herself laughing along with the girl, before stopping herself. She had to remain professional… especially with this girl.

 

                Once she was done Chungha looked at Momo in awe, “I actually—I actually kind of lived for that,” she admitted.

 

                “Chica...” Momo warned.

 

                “Right, right, the team,” Chungha nodded in agreeance before turning back to Dahyun who was breathing heavy, but smiling nonetheless.

 

                “Listen… I think you came into this room knowing what our answer was going to be, didn’t you?” Chungha asked seriously, “I mean with a routine like that… were you trying to make us laugh? Or get on the team?”

 

                Dahyun’s smile faltered and she looked like she was going to respond before Chungha cut her off.

 

                “If you wanted to make us laugh, congratulations, you did it. It was a nice intermission, but we need to move on to serious contenders now,” she said, “And please for the love of God, burn that shirt. I think I witnessed what a cursed image is like in real life today,”

 

                “I—I’m sorry,” Dahyun stuttered.

 

                “I wish we could have filmed that. I had to see that with my own two eyes, so I want Coach Kang to have to too,” Chungha chuckled at Momo who just shrugged noncommittally in response.

 

                Dahyun looked pleadingly at Momo. She said it would be easy, she said she didn’t have anything to worry about. Momo wouldn’t meet her eyes.

 

                Momo knew it was horrible… but in some way she hoped Dahyun could feel even a fraction of the pain she’d made Sana feel all those years ago.

 

                “Next!” Chungha shouted, waving the next girl in.

 

                “How was it?” Mina asked when Dahyun exited the studio.

 

                “Well, they said I made them laugh,” She said, trying to keep a positive face on for Mina, but Mina knew something was wrong.

 

                “Hey, Dahyun, it’s ok, was it Momo? I swear, she’s not normally like this,” Mina asked, and that was enough for her to finally break down in tears.

 

                “No, Momo didn’t do anything wrong, Momo never does anything wrong,” Dahyun sobbed into Mina’s shirt.

 

                Mina wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but she stayed and held her until she finished crying nonetheless.

 

                “Will you at least stick around and see who else made the team with me? I could use the support,” Mina asked once Dahyun had finally stopped crying.

 

                “No, I think I’m just going to head home… my heart’s taken enough of a beating already today,” she replied glumly.

 

                ~

 

                When Mina finally left the dance studio, an official member of the dance team she was surprised to find Tzuyu waiting for her – field hockey bag strapped over one shoulder and wearing the team hoodie – leaned against the wall.

 

                Several of the dance team members – mostly freshmen – squealed in excitement at the sight. Tzuyu ignored them all.

 

                “Where’s Dahyun?” Tzuyu asked, not having seen her in the group of girls.

 

                “She didn’t make the team,” Mina replied.

 

                “Yeah, but she knew she wouldn’t… I thought she might at least stick around and say hey or something,” Tzuyu shrugged.

 

                “They were kind of hard on her, so she just decided to go home,” Mina answered slowly, “I don’t understand it: they were so nice to me,”

 

                “Motang! You ready to go?” a voice called from behind Tzuyu and she turned around to see none other than Sana. She quickly turned back to Mina.

 

                “Quick, look like we’re busy doing something so she doesn’t look at me,” Tzuyu said, blushing from ear to ear.

 

                “Yes, Sana we are finally ready to go…” Momo enthused, throwing an arm around Mina. Mina shot Tzuyu an apologietic glance.

 

                Chungha threw her arm around an adorably tiny sophomore and gave her a noogie, “And boy are we thirsty!” she exclaimed.

 

                “Very, very, very,” The sophomore nodded in agreement. The rest of the new dance team let out cheers of excitement again.

 

                “Everyone buddy up, I’m not responsible if your doesn’t make it home tonight… but I will become responsible if you don’t show up to practice tomorrow, got it?” Momo threatened.

 

                Everyone else grabbed partners instantly.

 

                Momo threw her other arm around Sana and the three started to walk down the hall. Tzuyu was going to follow after, but before she could on her own accord, Sana reached back and grabbed her hand, tugging her along behind them, “You heard her, buddy up 25,” she said turning back and winking.

 

                Tzuyu groaned, Sana was going to be the death of her. With the amount of times she was successfully able to distract Tzuyu at practice today she would probably be black and blue tomorrow. And it didn’t even seem like she was doing it intentionally this time. Sana giggled at a joke someone had told, Tzuyu would look. Sana sighed impatiently and fixed her hair, Tzuyu would look. Sana bent over to tie her shoe, Tzuyu would look. She hoped the cheerleader was happy